NIC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: NIC women hold off CCS

SPOKANE — Shelby Cloninger scored 17 points to lead the North Idaho College women’s basketball team to a 63-55 win over the Community Colleges of Spokane Sasquatch on Tuesday at Spokane Falls Community College.

“Spokane just kept coming back at us,” NIC coach Chris Carlson said. “We were a little out of sync a little bit coming out of the break and had to grind it out a little bit. Shelby was tough down the stretch and Stormee (Van Belle) had another big game with 15 points.”

Spokane led 18-17 after the first quarter.

“We started mixing things up on defense and doing a little bit of trapping and it kept them off balance a little bit,” Carlson said. “They got out to a good start, but once we started to mix it up, it took away their rhythm.”

NIC (5-1) will face Skagit Valley in the opening round of the Bulldog Classic on Friday at 3 p.m. at Bellevue (Wash.) College.

Gese Gruber had 16 points and eight rebounds for Spokane (3-2).

NORTH IDAHO

Gracie Roberts 1-5 0-0 2, Maci Benedict 2-8 2-2 6, Alyssa Case 1-3 0-0 3, Shelby Cloninger 7-20 2-4 17, Monica Landdeck 3-8 0-0 7, Jocelyn Cook-Cox 2-3 1-2 5, Ebony Norman 2-6 2-2 7, Stormee Van Belle 6-12 0-0 13, Gracie Varcoe 1-3 1-4 3. Totals 25-68 8-14 63.

CC SPOKANE

Cali Moscrip 1-2 0-0 3, Khadija Neumeyer 6-13 0-0 13, Kierstyn Russell 1-6 2-2 4, Brianna King 7-16 3-5 17, Jessica Boyer 0-1 0-0 0, Katlyn Summers 1-2 0-0 2, Gese Gruber 7-10 0-0 16, Jennifer Gonzales 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 2-4 55.

North Idaho 17 19 14 13 — 63

Spokane 18 7 17 13 — 55

3-point goals — NIC 5-22 (Roberts 0-2, Benedict 0-4, Case 1-2, Cloninger 1-8, Landdeck 1-4, Norman 1-1, Van Belle 1-1), Spo 7-13 (Moscrip 1-2, Neumeyer 1-2, King 3-5, Gruber 2-3, Gonzales 0-1). Rebounds — NIC (47 (Norman 8), Spo 30 (Gruber 8). Assists — NIC 17 (Case 4), Spo 16 (King 4). Team fouls — NIC 12, Spo 13. Fouled out — none.